Saints proved they can afford to pay players with Ryan Ramczyk extension

The New Orleans Saints made an extension happen with right tackle Ryan Ramczyk, inking the former first-round pick to a five-year $90 million extension on Wednesday morning per Adam Schefter. The deal makes Ramczyk the highest-paid right tackle in the NFL and it’s a well-deserved contract for the Wisconsin alum.

Saints fans were hoping a deal would get done with Ramczyk and he definitely deserved to get paid like the best right tackle in football. Now he will be paid like one and the Saints have proven once again that they can afford to keep their best players.

Even sitting in the bottom 10 when it comes to cap space per Over the Cap, the Saints made this deal happen and they’re keeping Ramczyk in the Big Easy where he belongs.

Ryan Ramczyk is staying with the Saints after signing an extension.

The Saints needed to extend at least one of their two tackles prior to the regular season and many figured Ramczyk would be the easier option over left tackle Terron Armstead. For one, right tackles are less expensive and Ramczyk is also younger.

The Saints made the right choice here but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s over between them and Armstead. While the chances of retaining their former third-round pick, they’ve gotten around their salary cap issues before and this Ramczyk extension is further proof that it’s possible.

It’s hard not to be excited about this deal because it keeps Ramczyk with the Saints for the next half-decade. He’ll be 32 years old when he’s slated to hit free agency again, meaning another decent contract could still be on the table for him by that point.

Now, as mentioned, the Saints still have Armstead to potentially strike a deal with, as well as cornerback Marshon Lattimore and safety Marcus Williams. This extension showed that they can keep good players in New Orleans and if they’re serious about contending moving forward, another deal needs to get done before the season kicks off in September.

For now, however, Ramczyk getting paid is well-deserved and Saints fans have to be thrilled that he’s staying with the organization for the next five years.